Under Our Umbrella
by SoreninParis
Summary: Mikan Sakura is a small town girl with a dream of attending Gakuen Alice Academy, the most prestigious boarding school in Tokyo. Natsume Hyuuga is the heir to one of the biggest companies in Japan, tired from all the pressure of being the perfect son. Their love was a sweet, simple one. The journey there? Not so much.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! This fanfiction was inspired by me going to boarding school. Yup. I've been there for a couple years now so I wanted to write a fic about Mikan and the gang at boarding school. I know this idea has been done before but I'm going to follow boarding school logic and try to keep the characters as close to their actual traits as possible, though Aoi (Natsume's sister for those who haven't read the manga) will be a bit OC. If y'all are ever confused about a character, chances are they're from the manga and you can just look them up online. They won't have Alices in this and it's NatsumexMikan but I will definitely include many other prominent ships in there as well. I've really been trying to build my stories more but also skim a bit on the unnecessary details so tell me how I'm doing and please bare with me. I promise it'll be worth it.**

 **Summary: Mikan Sakura is a small town girl with a dream of attending Gakuen Alice Academy, the most prestigious boarding school in Tokyo. Natsume Hyuuga is the heir to one of the biggest companies in Japan, tired from all the pressure of being the perfect son. Their love was a sweet, simple one. The journey there? Not so much.**

 **p.s. The summary sucks because it's about more than just Natsume and Mikan. Yeah it's about them together/their conflicts but also as separate people with their own challenges as well. It's also their friends and the friendships they build because I believe boarding school is really about that. Also the title's weird but it'll be explained in the future.**

 **Chapter 1.**

Mikan Sakura read the name engraved on the silver plaque hung over door GAA24 in the freshman dorm located on the Gakuen Alice Academy campus. The brunette smiled to herself as she brushed her fingers against the cold metal. Gently turning the handle to the door in anticipation, she frowned when it refused to budge, giving it a couple more jiggles. "Oh let me help you with that stubborn thing!" came a voice from behind. A girl with carmine pink layered hair resting just a bit below her shoulders, scruffy bangs and a cute middle part walked down the hall towards Mikan. Mikan stepped out of the girl's way, watching her curiously as she worked her magic. First she thumped the door twice on the top right, gently tapped it three times in the middle, and grinned at Mikan's amazement when it swiftly swung open. Mikan's mouth continued to hang open in shock, "How?!"

"I used to live in this room when I was a freshie," the girl explained, "always gave me trouble." She smiled to herself, as if reminiscing about the good old days, "Name's Misaki Harada! Just call me Misaki, no formalities attached." She reached out and grabbed Mikan's hand, her grip strong and firm.

Mikan beamed, shaking back, "Thanks Misaki! I'm Mikan Sakura but you can call me Mikan."

Misaki laughed, "Well I figured that much from reading the door sign. And also because I'll be your proctor for the year!"

Mikan was confused, "Proctor?"

"Yup, that means I live in this dorm even though I'm a senior. Every night I'll be checking you in and making sure you're in your room before 10. If you need anything or have any questions, I can answer them too! You'll find out more about proctors during orientation. But you can basically think of me as your certified older sister!"

Mikan was impressed, "Well you're definitely qualified! You know my name, your hair is super cool, and you can open doors on command!" she joked.

Misaki nodded proudly, "Yup! And everyone says I make a mean easy mac!"

Speaking of food, Mikan groaned, "Is the food here really that bad? Is it true we have to survive on instant ramen and junk food? I mean I love food, don't get me wrong, but I want to eat better things than what you can salvage at Walmart for five bucks."

Misaki patted Mikan's head in reassurance, "Don't worry girl, we have great chefs here! Apparently two of them were on tv or something so you should be all good."

"I've got tons of fluff puffs just in case," Mikan replied. She looked at the 4 boxes lined up against the hallway, pouting when she realized she would have to unpack everything before she could hop in bed and binge eat fluff puffs while watching The Bachelor.

"Don't worry, it goes by faster than you think," Misaki said when she noticed Mikan's distress, "And then you realize that you forgot something important like underwear and freak out for the next two weeks." Mikan laughed, her stress instantly melting away. Misaki sure was a fun person to be around!

"Oh my god, I almost forgot!" Misaki grumbled as she smacked herself upside the head, "I am so sorry Mikan, I totally blanked. The hall mom for our dorm, Himemiya, she told me that you are, in fact going to have a roommate! I know you weren't informed in advance, but she just replied with her decision a couple days ago and you were the only single in the entire dorm. Apparently she's some science and math genius because the decision deadline was like three months ago but the school made an exception for her! Her name is Hotaru Imai."

"This is so exciting! I'm getting a roommate?! And here I was thinking I would be left out of the fun without one. Now I can have the full experience! We can be best friends, share food with each other, and decorate our rooms together!" Mikan cheered happily. She had been really disappointed when her letter came in the mail that summer to find out that she would be in a single room because of the odd number of girls in her grade.

"Well hurry on in there then! You haven't even seen your room yet!" Misaki gave her a gentle push. Mikan stumbled into the room, her eyes widening as she squealed with glee, letting out a breath of satisfaction, "it's perfect!". The room was divided into two sides, each with a twin bed, desk, chair, dresser and reasonably sized closet. There were two windows in the middle of the room with the shades rolled up, letting the afternoon sunlight peek in. It was really simple, but Mikan liked simple. She had come from a small town that was so miniscule it was sometimes forgotten on, or purposefully excluded from maps.

Mikan was in a daze as she unpacked her boxes. Misaki had helped her bring them into her room and then left to check on another girl moving in downstairs. She couldn't believe this was happening. _I can't believe I'm really here Jii-chan, is this real?_ Her head was going crazy with all the jumbled thoughts rushing through her mind. _This is all so amazing and new... I love it so much! I can't wait for Hotaru to get here. Hopefully she's nice. I would have totally brought her a gift from home if I knew she was coming. Maybe I can offer her some fluff puffs! Man, I definitely should have packed more of them, I might run out before tomorrow!_ She tore open the box labeled:  Mikan's food. DO NOT TOUCH OR BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN! Inside were ten boxes of fluff puffs, a few packets of dried seaweed, some red bean cakes, and a surplus amount of gummy bears. After drooling over the yummy snacks and forcing herself to hold off on eating them just yet, she shoved the box under her bed. Done with number one!

The second box she opened was labeled clothes. She rummaged through the box and smiled in relief when she held up a fist full of cutesy patterned underwear. She giggled, _it's a good thing I didn't forget underwear_. Mikan hung up a couple dresses in her closet and shoved the rest of her clothes into the dresser, telling herself she would go back later and organize, with absolutely no real intention of doing so. She moved on to making her bed, cutting open the third box. She had packed a light pink comforter with ruffles and a couple of fluffy white pillows. She put on her sheets, then fluffed and arranged the pillows. Perfect!

The last box contained miscellaneous things like detergent, bath towels, a tan backpack, sparkly notebooks, strawberry scented face wash, a toothbrush, things like that. She put most of the stuff in her desk drawer and stacked up the empty boxes to carry them downstairs. As she bent down to pick the stack up, she heard a loud growl, her stomach being the culprit. She glanced at the clock she had hung over her bed. 5:36 P.M. Time to eat! Mikan wasn't sure if she should wait for her roommate to arrive and eat with her or go downstairs to see anyone else was going. _I'll give her some privacy to unpack by going out_ , she decided. As excited as she was to meet Hotaru, Mikan was also pretty worried. _What if her roommate didn't like her?!_ _Besides, who knew when she would be getting here? Dinner now it was!_

Mikan had gone downstairs to find three more girls moving into the dorm. Anna Umenomiya was a compassionate, sweet girl not only because of her yummy bubblegum pink hair, but also because of her cute personality and generosity. She had baked giant chocolate chip cookies for the entire dorm wrapped in the most adorable star patterned bags ever! Nonoko Ogasawara, her roommate, was also a kind and modest girl. Being from a rich family of engineers and scientists, she didn't brag about her expensive clothes, but instead gushed about her love of chemistry and begged Anna to teach her how she came up with such a great recipe for her cookies. Next door to them was Aoi Hyuuga, who also came from a loaded family. In fact, though she didn't mention it, the girls (except Mikan who'd never heard of the name Hyuuga in her town before) were shocked when they realized her family owned one of the biggest companies in Japan! Misaki whispered something about the Hyuugas being a famous legacy at Gakuen Alice Academy with generations of powerful alumnus and generous donors while Aoi was unpacking the last of her stuff. After Aoi was done, the girls merrily left for the dining hall located in the main building just a couple minutes away from their dorm, sharing more about themselves. Apparently Mikan and Aoi were both Tauruses; Mikan's birthday being May 17 and Aoi's May 12. "We have to celebrate together!" the two girls exclaimed. Anna's favorite color was, no surprise, pink. And most interesting of all, Nonoko's dark blue hair was not dyed, but actually completely natural! "No way!" the girls cried out. "Yup, it's true." Nonoko nodded, "My mom told me it was because daddy secretly put some blue food coloring and a bunch of other stuff into her smoothie while she was pregnant with me and that's why my hair is blue! I was a science experiment!" They all laughed at that, wondering if there was some truth to the story.

Passing the main hall, they entered the dining room, suddenly freezing at the entrance. "This is a little… overwhelming," Anna stuttered.

Rows and rows of wooden tables were spread out across the giant room. Each table contained a pretty centerpiece with fresh flowers and an arrangement of condiments. The ceiling was high, hanging dozens of crystal chandeliers and twinkling lights, a beautiful sight as the sky outside began to darken, setting a peaceful evening tone. The room was already filled with a sea of students, with laughter and chatter all around. "I feel a little bit underdressed", Mikan muttered in her light blue t shirt and white capris.

"No worries girls," Misaki said, "Since school hasn't officially started yet, you're off the hook. There's a dress code in place during the school day which you'll find out about later."

They looked at Misaki in horror. A dress code?!

"Alright girls, here's the rundown." Misaki ignored their sad faces. Oh her poor little proctees, unfortunately they would just have to deal with it like Misaki did, "So there are five bars like buffet style. Hot line always contains usual hot meal stuff like pizza, rice, hamburgers, steamed or baked veggies- OMG YES I think tonight's pasta bar! I love the chicken parm! Anyways, over there is the cold meal bar. They'll usually have stuff like potato salad, greek salad, and different kinds of wraps. On the side you can find soups like clam chowder, chicken noodle, and egg drop. Next is the salad bar where you can make yourself a salad with a bunch of salady ingredients I guess. I'm not sure, I've never had it before haha. Then there's the bread and bagel bar which is always out in case you're hungry, though I've been telling them to get chunky peanut butter for the longest time now in their suggestion box but here I am three years later and still no chunky peanut butter! And finally, dessert bar! They usually serve fresh fruit, ice cream, or some sort of baked good. Oh and drinks are on the walls of the remaining three sides. Remind me to make you guys my special fruit punch sometime, it's absolutely delicious! Enjoy girls!" Misaki winked before making her way to the hot line to get some chicken.

The four girls looked at each other before all running after her to get a place in line. They chose a table near the corner, not really noticing anything or anyone around them, all eager to dig in. Misaki's plate was filled by two giant pieces of chicken and pasta drenched in tomato sauce. Mikan's bowl contained a heaping of white alfredo sauce and a stack of fancy looking garlic bread. Anna opted for pesto pasta and a bowl of fresh blueberries. Nonoko was busy scarfing down a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream while Aoi happily munched on pita chips covered in hummus. Conversation began after a few minutes of pure, blissful silence as the girls were consumed in- or rather, consumed, their food. They were discussing their hatred for salad when somehow the topic landed on one of Aoi's blind date disasters.

"You didn't!" Mikan gasped as the rest of the girls stared at Aoi in disbelief.

"Yup," she grinned cheekily, taking a sip of pink lemonade, "I have no regrets either."

Anna covered her face and moaned, "I would have been so embarrassed! You sure have some guts Aoi-chan!"

Aoi looked proud of herself, "He was a jerk! What else could I have done? I told mom I didn't want to go out with him but she insisted that he was nice and pleasant to be with. More like rude and insolent!"

"Yeah, but did you really have to dump salad down his pants?" Nonoko shuddered, "that must have been cold."

Aoi just scoffed, "Well I wasn't gonna eat it. The only reason I ordered that stupid salad was because he looked at me like I had sprouted three heads when I mentioned something about fries and a cheeseburger."

Everyone cheered, "In that case you should have dumped your water on him too! I hate it when girls feel the need to order salads on dates. I say hey, if the guy is treating me, then I'm gonna get whatever I want," Misaki declared.

"Ooooooo, does Misaki have someone special in her heart?" Aoi teased, "A lover perhaps?"

Misaki just shrugged and plopped a giant piece of chicken in her mouth, smiling innocently as she chewed slowly. Aoi groaned, "oh you're good Misaki!"

The group kept on talking, discovering more and more about each other. Family was next on their list: Anna's parents were bakers (no surprise there) who owned a popular bakery in New York called The Sweet Spot. Misaki's parents were journalists who toured the world, working with different charities and organizations. She had two younger brothers, one that was a freshman and one a year older. They had both chosen to go an all boy's school a few hours away from Gakuen so the girls sadly wouldn't be meeting them anytime soon. Suddenly Aoi's face turned white and she jumped up from her seat with urgency, muttering something about... a brother? "What is it Aoi?! Are you okay?" Mikan asked, worried there was something wrong.

Aoi noticed her new friends' worried faces and calmed down a little, "No! It's okay! It's just that I completely forgot I told my onii-chan I would have dinner with him tonight!"

Mikan tried to cheer her up, "Maybe he forgot and ate already."

Aoi turned red, "Um… well actually the thing is, I didn't _tell_ him, I practically begged him!" She pinched the bridge of her nose and moaned, "Oh this is so embarrassing! I was scared I wouldn't make any friends so I forced him to stay in his room until I was done packing and I told him I would text him once I was done and I completely just forgot about it after meeting you awesome gals and omg I feel awful for doing this to him! He's probably furious right now, sitting in his room with Ruka, starving to death and wondering where his awful little sister went. I have to go get him!" She exclaimed, picking up her plate.

"Going somewhere Aoi?" a cool voice came from behind the girls. Aoi squeaked and turned around, coming face to face with the subject of conflict himself. Her onii-chan.

 **Thanks for reading :) Next chapter out soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm so sorry for disappearing on you, I had some personal issues that needed resolving, but everything is okay now. I know this isn't that long, but I am working on more chapters I promise! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2.

"Onii-chan! Ruu-chan! What's up?!" Aoi chuckled nervously.

"Don't Ruu-chan him!" the guy snapped. Mikan was annoyed at herself for noticing it in the middle of all the commotion, but dang, Aoi's brother was gorgeous. Messy, dark raven hair and a set of fiery crimson orbs that were strangely cold, making her body shiver and the nape of her neck tingle. Suddenly he looked right at her, his gaze meeting hers, red eyes piercing into brown ones that widened in surprise and quickly flickered down towards the ground. She blushed furiously, running a hand through one of her pigtails, a habit she had when she was nervous. Everything about him was perfect, except when she looked into his eyes. His face was etched in a scowl, which only made him more attractive. Mikan knew his type. Cold, confident, uninterested in everything. But underneath all of that, when she looked into his eyes, why did he seem so— _sad?_

Aoi's voice broke her out of her thoughts,"But onii-channnnnn, it's my first day here! Forgive me for being so forgetful," she pouted, "I'm sure you didn't want to eat with me anyway so now you get to eat with your friends."

He sighed, "At least you made friends, I was starting to think Ruka and I were your only ones."

Aoi snorted, "As if! I made plenty of friends already." One by one, she introduced her new crew. "This lovely lady right here is Misaki Harada, my proctor. Next to her is Anna Umenomiya, and her roommate Nonoko Ogasawara! And last, but certainly not least, Mikan Sakura, who also lives in our dorm."

The girls chorused their greetings. Her brother smirked, raising an eyebrow, "I'm waiting."

"What are you talking about— OH," Aoi's eyes widened, "Ahaha yes, and this is my wonderful onii-chan Natsume Hyuuga and his best friend Ruka Nogi!

"Nice to meet you all," Ruka greeted, "What year are you girls in? Freshman?" With his golden blonde hair and twinkling light blue eyes, he resembled a prince in the fairy tales Mikan used to read when she was little.

"Hai!" The girls replied.

"Except me!" Misaki chimed in, causing everyone to laugh.

"You two are in sophomore year I assume?" Nonoko asked.

"Yup, been here for a good year already," Ruka chuckled.

"A year too long if you ask me," Natsume muttered darkly.

Sensing the awkwardness, Aoi clapped her hands, "Okay! Well the girls and I are done with dinner, so after we drop Misaki off at the dorm I was going to take them on a quick tour around campus and maybe hit up an off campus trip."

"If you wait for us, we can take you guys after we finishing eating," Ruka suggested, "we have all the insider information," he joked.

"No, no! It's fine Ruu-chan! Wouldn't want to waste your time. You and Natsume go eat before they take the food away. Thanks for the offer—" a loud ringtone interrupted her, _was that John Legend's All of Me?_ Mikan wondered out loud, she loved that song! Aoi snickered at her comment, causing Natsume to shoot her a glare before answering the call.

Unfortunately the caller was on speaker, and sickly sweet voice came booming out. Natsume cursed, dropping the phone in shock. "Natsume-kun, are you on campus?! Let's go eat together honey."

"Is that his mom?" Anna mouthed to Aoi.

"Nope, that's the backhanded bitch," Aoi mouthed back, "just listen."

"Natsume-Kunnnnnn, are you there? You're not ignoring me, are you? Natsummmeeeeeee. I missed you soooooooooo much, come on, let's catch up," the voice cooed. The girls felt a bit nauseous just overhearing the conversation.

"Yeah I'm here. Where are you?" Natsume picked up the phone, turning it off speaker.

"Well, we have to go now! Bye Ruu-chan! See you later!" Aoi said before dragging the girls away from the table and out the dining hall, leaving Ruka standing uncomfortably beside his friend.

"Who was that?!" Nonoko exclaimed,"That was the most annoying and fake voice I've ever heard."

Aoi snorted, "You've got that right. Her name is Luna Koizumi. You might have heard of her family, they own Koizumi Inc., a huge manufacturing company in Japan. They're successful yeah, but she basks in her money and has as much personality as a potato. Actually no, that's an insult to potatoes. Sure she's pretty, but that's only on the outside. Inside, she's a backstabbing, scheming, manipulative little— ugh! Just talking about her annoys me. I don't know why my idiot brother hangs out with her. She even makes Ruu-chan uncomfortable, but Natsume still keeps her around. I wonder why he hasn't gotten rid of her yet like all the other ones... Maybe it's cause she's got big tits? Nah, they're fake too, and onii-chan isn't like that. I think..." she trailed off in frustration.

Misaki whistled, "Damn, sounds like trouble. Is there something specific that made you hate her so much? I mean, sadly, a lot of the female population is just like her."

Aoi sighed sadly, "Yeah, but that's a story for another time. Right now I want to enjoy the rest of the night with you all! Let's go walk around campus."

"Onward!" The girls yelled, linking arms, running to who knows where.

* * *

 **Yay! I finally wrote another chapter. I'm actually really excited for this story. I might delete my other ones but I see potential for this one. Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is very very helpful. Natsume and Mikan met! I know it wasn't explosive, but I feel like love develops over time. Sure there's initial attraction, but you really have to get to know the person, and how can you just be like, that's my soulmate and now I'm going to go through intense emotions with them? I don't think it's natural but then again, what do I know lol. Also, just writing about Luna makes me mad. In the manga I was like, who invited you? HUH?! NO ONE. GO AWAY AND DIE.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hopefully this wasn't too long of a wait! I'm also sorry this is more of a filler, I need to set the background more. Also, if you guys have any questions about boarding school, feel free to ask since it is NOTHING like Zoey 101, just want to put that out there :)**

* * *

Chapter 3.

"Mikan, we're here," a gentle voice woke Mikan from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness of the bus. After exploring campus, Misaki had gone back to the dorm to welcome the rest of the girls. Mikan, Aoi, Nonoko, and Anna decided to sign up for a trip to the mall off campus to buy some last minute supplies and get to know the area a bit better. The bus was filled with mostly what seemed like upperclassmen from the way they looked at the newbies with obvious contempt. No one bothered to say anything to them and the girls were fine with going off merrily by themselves. They had gotten the necessities, decoration for their rooms, and stocked up on more snacks. Mikan must have scoured the entire mall for fluff puffs to no avail. She couldn't wait to go back to school and share some with her friends. Speaking of going back, Mikan wanted to get a gift for her roommate. It was hard because Mikan knew nothing about her except her supposed interest in math and science. She ended up settling for a pretty box of chocolates and a lovely lavender scented candle.

After the friends finished at the general stores, Aoi and Anna wanted to go look at clothes so they headed to Kiss, where all four realized they would have to buy clothes that fit the dress code, which was so not easy. "What do you think?" Aoi said as she stepped out of the dressing room in a cute cream colored short sleeved blouse and a buttoned jean skirt reaching her knees. She topped it off with cropped two inch black boots and a black leather jacket, perfect for fall.

They all squealed in approval, until Nonoko frowned, "wait the skirt is a little ripped, Misaki said we can't have anything ripped or acid washed." Everyone sighed and went back to searching. This happened again with Mikan's navy blue dress, whose straps were too thin, Anna's silky shirt that was just a little bit see through, Nonoko's baby pink sweater and black leggings, where the sweater was too short to cover her butt and inseam. The girls were in the store for a good two hours until finally everyone settled on a couple outfits that would hopefully get them through a whole week with the rest of the wardrobe they brought from home.

"I wish we could just have uniforms if it's going to be this hard to find clothes," Aoi grumbled.

"Exactly," Mikan agreed, "And even though these three outfits pass dress code and are pretty cute, buying everything at original price will end with me being broke."

"Yeah, my two outfits cost around three hundred dollars!" Anna exclaimed, "I could buy enough ingredients to bake a thousand cakes!" The four laughed. They continued chatting as they walked back to the main mall entrance, getting back on their bus, where the four launched into a conversation about their outfits for the first day. Mikan was still jet lagged and found herself zoning out. She quickly fell asleep, which did not go unnoticed by the other three, who took many pictures for future blackmail and laughs.

Mikan was woken up by Aoi ten minutes later. "Do you all want to meet up after you put your stuff away? In my room?" Aoi suggested to the group as they made their way back to their dorm.

"Sure, your roommate won't mind right?" Mikan asked.

"Nope, I don't have one. My dad pulled some strings for me," Aoi grinned, "He told them I'm a sleep talker and walker which technically is true, 2% of the time."

"Sounds good!" everyone replied.

When they arrived, Mikan ran upstairs to put all her new things away. _I wonder if Hotaru is here yet._ She thought to herself as she unlocked her door, trying Misaki's trick to open it. Success! Mikan walked in to find the other half of the room still empty. _Darn it. Is she okay? Why isn't she here? It's almost 10 o'clock!_ The brunette was tired of waiting, she wanted to meet her roommate as soon as possible and become best friends like in Zoey 101. She wrapped the candle and chocolates, writing a note that said: Hey Hotaru! I'm so excited to be your roommate this year! Hope we can get along and become good friends! Love, Mikan :)

Mikan set her gift on Hotaru's desk and proceeded to hanging up her new outfits. Depending on the weather, she was either going to wear a light yellow ruffled belle inspired wrap dress, made of chiffon material, with a fabric tie around the waist in a loose bow, and brown ankle boots, or a maroon skater skirt, white top, jean jacket, and black combat boots. Mikan was hoping for the first outfit, since it was Belle inspired, and she was Mikan's favorite Disney princess. She was a reader, something more than just looking pretty and singing with animals. Belle was a dreamer, had a thirst for knowledge, a woman ahead of her time. She was full of courage, willing to make sacrifices for the ones she loved. Belle had taken a bad situation and made it good for herself. She never judged the beast. She put herself out there, and was not afraid of getting hurt. Mikan was only 15, but she had gone through a lot in life. Her cheerful and carefree attitude was the result of all her hardships. She hoped coming to Gakuen Alice Academy would bring new adventure to her life, and if there were challenges, she would say, bring it on!

* * *

Mikan POV.

"Your brother is sooooo cute!" Anna squealed. We were sprawled on a soft, fluffy white blanket in the center of Aoi's room. "Yeah," Nonoko murmured in agreement. Thank god I wasn't the only one to think that. Aoi sighed, "I could say ew but I've heard it all before, besides, I won't deny it, if he's cute then I have to be smokin' cause we're related but I'm much better looking." Good logic Aoi.

"What do you think Mikan?" Anna turned to me excitedly.

"Me? Oh, um, yeah, he's an attractive person I guess," I stammered, praying my face wasn't as red as it was hot, "He kind of reminds me of um…." I tended to ramble when I was nervous, "of um…. a cat!" I blurted out. The three of them burst out laughing.

"A cat?" Aoi snickered.

I decided to just go with it, since there was no getting myself out of this one, "Yup, a cat. A black cat. I like to match people with animals that fit their personality or appearance."

"Enlighten us on why Natsume is a black cat", Nonoko giggled.

"Well, cats are usually seen as less affectionate and more grumpy than let's say dogs. When you go pet it, it might scratch or run away from you. But if you keep trying to bond with it, and get to really know a cat, they slowly get used to you and become immensely loving and sweet. I don't know Hyuuga, but I don't think he's always such a cold and dark person. He's friends with Nogi and I think who you're friends with says a lot about you as a person. Obviously Nogi is a kind hearted person so why would he be so close with Hyuuga if Hyuuga was as awful as he acted."

Aoi looked impressed, "Wow Mikan, that was actually pretty spot on. How are you so good at analyzing people? My brother is like one of those Russian dolls, you think you know him and then you realize there's like seven more layers inside." We all laughed.

"Wait but if who you hang out with says a lot about you, why does he hang out with that Koizumi girl?" Nonoko wondered.

"That's one of his many layers," Aoi responded. "Okay, enough about onii-chan, we should watch a movie."

"Oh! I know a good one, Starstruck!" Anna exclaimed.

"The one with Sterling Knight?! It's one of my favorites," I yelled.

"Let's do it!" we all cheered.

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BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP "Urgh." I grumbled as I slapped my nightstand, searching for my phone to shut up the cruel noise that woke me from my beauty sleep. Wait. My eyes shot open. I wasn't at home. I was at Gakuen Alice Academy. Suddenly, I was wide awake from the adrenaline and excitement. I checked the time on my phone, 7:30 AM. Perfect. Today wasn't the first day of school, but the first of three days of orientation. The whole school was going hiking in the Northern woods, which was considered part of the Gakuen campus. I got dressed in denim shorts, a white t shirt, and black nike sneakers. I decided to go with two loose french braids for my hair. I grabbed my phone, key and black sports bag I had packed the night before with a water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, and a pack of gummy bears.

I met up with Anna, Nonoko, and Aoi for breakfast. I sat down with a bowl of scrambled eggs and a glass of chocolate milk, observing the rest of the dining hall. Yesterday, it seemed like there were at least a thousand students at the school, but now that I'm more used to things, there's probably only around two hundred. That's about fifty per grade. Wow. Definitely not a lot. Aoi told me that's why years here get mixed up easily. Many classes have people anywhere from grade nine to twelve. For instance, I tested into level three english, so I would be put into that class, whereas in public school I would have just been stuck in english one. Same with Nonoko, who would be taking AP chemistry as a Freshman. Even though years seemed to be mixed here, there were still obvious cliques. A table of all the hardcore jocks, the music and theater group, the LGBTQIA+ squad, the ones who actually took Gakuen seriously as a preppy school and looked like a bunch of Blairs from Gossip girl, the nice kids who were just- nice, the overachievers who were were already reading their textbooks and starting their homework (how?), the student council kids, the list goes on. But what really drew my attention was the table in the middle of the dining hall. There sat Natsume Hyuuga in all his glory, Ruka Nogi with a charming smile on his face, a boy with messy dirty blonde hair and a goofy expression, a boy with black hair styled in a buzz cut, and a blonde girl with a scowl on her face. You know when you see something that makes you so awestruck, you want to keep looking but you know you should turn away and not do a doubletake? This was not it. (LOL) But the group did emanate a kind of eliteness that made people wish they could sit with them but also know they could never be good enough to. I almost choked on my eggs when I saw the blonde girl attempt to feed Hyuuga a grape. That must be Koizumi. Thankfully he rejected it because I would have thrown up my breakfast right then and there. I turned away from the scene and joined the conversation at the table.

After breakfast, everyone was instructed to go wait outside in the school front yard where there'd be papers with lists for the groups. We were split off into twenty groups of around ten, which were our advisor groups for the rest of the year. Advisors were teachers that would also act as guidance counselors, parents, a support system for students away from home. Throughout the year we would do activities as a group together and individual check ins with our advisor. I scanned the list for my group, finally finding my name under a someone called Noda. Misaki's name was also in the group. Score! But there was a little x next to her name. "Why do some of the names on here have x's next to them?" I wondered out loud.

"They're for proctors who have their own orientation," came a voice beside me. Hey! It was the boy from Hyuuga's table, the one with the goofy expression.

"Thanks!" I replied, smiling at him. Come to think of it, he's the first one I've talked to outside of my current group.

He chuckled, "No problem, name's Koko Yome, nice to meet you." I was about to reply with my name, but he rushed off into a random crowd before I could say a word. Huh. What a strange kid.

I walked back to the girls. "What groups are you all in?" I asked Aoi, Anna, and Nonoko.

"We're in the same one, someone also called Misaki haha!" Anna and Nonoko replied, high fiving each other.

Aoi pouted, "Luckyyy! I'm in Persona's group with my onii-chan. From what I heard, he's an absolute creep and suspected sadist."

"Aw Aoi, at least you're with someone," I tried to make her feel better, "I have to actually go and talk to new people which terrifies me."

"Yeah, but onii-chan never comes to these things. He apparently thinks these activities aren't worth his time." "OKAY PEOPLE GET INTO YOUR GROUPS HURRY UP" a loud voice blasted out through all the speakers around the yard. I gulped. I swear that voice will be in my nightmares tonight.

"See you later girls!" we bid each other farewell and good luck before heading off to the signs that had our group name on it. Except when I got to the sign with my name on it, there was no one there! What the heck? A blonde man walked up to me. "Mikan Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Nice to meet you honey, I'm Narumi-sensei. You're the only new addition to Noda-sensei's group this year. Now you must be wondering why there's no one from your group here."

"Yeah, I was wondering why…"

"Well Noda-sensei is often sick and doesn't come to these activities, so everyone in the group never shows up either…"

"Oh." I honestly didn't know what to say. So what would I do then?...

"You're certainly welcome to join my group, or treat this as free time to explore the campus some more." Narumi offered.

"No, it's okay, I don't want to intrude on your group sir, after all, it is an advisor group activity. Thank you, I'll look around the campus some more." I replied, having no intention of walking around an empty campus.

"I'm sorry sweety! See you later," Narumi waved as he walked back to his group. Most of the groups had left, and after Narumi's disappeared into the woods, I was the only one in the entire once packed yard. What do I do now?

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What do you think Mikan's going to do? *evil laughter* I hope she doesn't make stupid decisions. Like go into the woods by herself... FORESHAD— ;) Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think!


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